September 28
Events *48 BC - Pompey the Great is assassinated on orders of King Ptolemy of Egypt after landing in Egypt. * 351 - Battle of Mursa Major: the Roman Emperor Constantius II defeats the usurper Magnentius. * 365 - Roman usurper Procopius bribes two legions passing by Constantinople, and proclaims himself Roman emperor. * 935 - Saint Wenceslas is murdered by his brother, Boleslav I of Bohemia. * 995 - Members of Slavník's dynasty - Spytimír, Pobraslav, Pořej and Čáslav are murdered by Boleslaus's son, Boleslaus II the Pious. *1066 - William the Conqueror invades England: the Norman Conquest begins. *1106 - The Battle of Tinchebrai - Henry I of England defeats his brother, Robert Curthose. *1322 - Louis IV defeats Frederick I of Austria in the Battle of Mühldorf. *1448 - Christian I is crowned king of Denmark. *1542 - Navigator Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo of Portugal arrives as what is now San Diego, California, United States. *1708 - Peter the Great defeats the Swedes at the Battle of Lesnaya. *1779 - American Revolution: Samuel Huntington is elected President of the Continental Congress, succeeding John Jay. *1781 - American forces backed by a French fleet begin the siege of Yorktown, Virginia, during the American Revolutionary War. *1787 - The newly completed United States Constitution is voted on by the U.S. Congress to be sent to the state legislatures for approval. *1844 - Oscar I of Sweden-Norway is crowned king of Sweden. *1867 - Toronto becomes the capital of Ontario. * 1867 - The United States takes control of Midway Island. *1868 - Battle of Alcolea causes Queen Isabella II of Spain to flee to France. *1871 - Brazil passes law freeing future children of slavery. *1889 - The first General Conference on Weights and Measures (CGPM) defines the length of a meter as the distance between two lines on a standard bar of an alloy of platinum with ten percent iridium, measured at the melting point of ice. *1928 - UK passes the Dangerous Drugs Act outlawing cannabis. *1939 - Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union agree on a division of Poland after their invasion during World War II. * 1939 - Warsaw surrenders to Nazi Germany during World War II. *1941 - Major League Baseball: Ted Williams of the Boston Red Sox hits a batting average of .406 that was originally at .3995. He is the last player to have a batting average of .400 or better. *1944 - Battle of Arnhem - Germans defeat British airborne at Arnhem, Netherlands. * 1944 - Soviet Army troops liberate Klooga concentration camp in Klooga, Estonia. *1958 - France ratifies a new Constitution of France; the French Fifth Republic is then formed upon the formal adoption of the new constitution on October 4. Guinea rejects the new constitution, voting for independence instead. *1961 - A military coup in Damascus effectively ends the United Arab Republic, the union between Egypt and Syria. *1962 - Paddington tram depot fire destroys 65 trams in Brisbane, Australia. *1971 - UK passes the Misuse of Drugs Act banning the medicinal use of cannabis. *1973 - ITT Building in New York City bombed to protest ITT's involvement in the September 11 1973 coup d'état in Chile. *1994 - The car ferry MS Estonia sinks in Baltic Sea, killing 852 people. *1995 - Bob Denard and a group of mercenaries take the islands of Comoros in a coup. *2000 - Al-Aqsa Intifada: Arial Sharon visits the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. *2004 - An expected but overdue magnitude 6.0 earthquake hits Parkfield, California Births *551 BC - Confucius, Chinese philosopher (d. 479 BC) *58 BC - Livia Drusilla, wife of the Roman emperor Caesar Augustus (d. 29) *1330 - Nicolas Flamel, famous french alchemist (d. 1417?) *1493 - Agnolo Firenzuola, Italian poet (d. 1545) *1605 - Ismael Bullialdus, French astronomer (d. 1694) *1667 - Asano Naganori, Japanese warlord (d. 1701) *1681 - Johann Mattheson, German composer (d. 1764) *1705 - Henry Fox, English statesman (d. 1774) *1746 - Sir William Jones, English philologist (d. 1794) *1803 - Prosper Mérimée, French author (d. 1870) *1821 - Jonathan Clarkson Gibbs, American politician (d. 1874) *1823 - Alexandre Cabanel, French painter (d. 1889) *1824 - Francis Turner Palgrave, British critic and poet (d. 1897) *1836 - Thomas Crapper, English inventor (d. 1910) *1841 - Georges Clemenceau, French politician (d. 1929) *1852 - Henri Moissan, French chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1907) *1856 - Kate Douglas Wiggin, American children's author (d. 1923) *1861 - Amélie of Orléans, queen of Portugal (d. 1951) *1867 - Kiichiro Hiranuma, Prime Minister of Japan (d. 1952) *1881 - Pedro de Cordoba, American actor (d. 1950) *1887 - Avery Brundage, American athlete and sports official (d. 1975) *1889 - Jack Fournier, baseball player (d. 1973) *1891 - Myrtle Gonzalez, American actress (d. 1918) *1893 - Giannis Skaribas, Greek writer, dramatist, and poet (d. 1984) *1898 - Carl Clauberg, Nazi doctor (d. 1957) *1901 - William S. Paley, American radio and television executive (d. 1990) * 1901 - Ed Sullivan, American television show host (d. 1974) *1905 - Max Schmeling, German boxer (d. 2005) *1907 - Heikki Savolainen, Finnish gymnast (d. 1997) *1907 - Bhagat Singh - Indian Freedom Fighter *1909 - Al Capp, American cartoonist (d. 1979) *1913 - Warja Honegger-Lavater, Swiss artist and illustrator *1915 - Ethel Rosenberg, American Communist (d. 1953) *1916 - Peter Finch, English-born actor (d. 1977) *1918 - Ángel Labruna, Argentinian football player and coach (d. 1983) *1923 - John Scott, British politician (d. 2007) * 1923 - William Windom, American actor *1924 - Marcello Mastroianni, Italian actor (d. 1996) *1925 - Seymour Cray, American computer scientist (d. 1996) * 1925 - Cromwell Everson, South African composer (d. 1991) * 1925 - Arnold Stang, American actor *1926 - Jerry Clower, American comedian (d. 1998) *1929 - Lata Mangeshkar, Indian playback singer *1932 - Víctor Jara, Chilean folk singer, theatre director, and political activist (d. 1973) *1933 - Miguel Berrocal, Sculptor (d. 2006) *1934 - Brigitte Bardot, French actress * 1934 - Janet Munro, British actress (d. 1972) *1937 - Alice Mahon, English politician and labor leader * 1937 - Rod Roddy, American television announcer (d. 2003) *1938 - Ben E. King, American r&b singer *1939 - Stuart Kauffman, American biologist *1941 - Edmund Stoiber, German politician *1942 - Marshall Bell, American actor * 1942 - Pierre Clémenti, French actor (d. 1999) *1943 - Joel Higgins, American actor * 1943 - Nick St. Nicholas, Canadian musician (Steppenwolf) * 1943 - J. T. Walsh, American actor (d. 1998) *1946 - Helen Shapiro, English singer * 1946 - Jeffrey Jones, American actor *1947 - Bob Carr, Former Premier of New South Wales * 1947 - Sheikh Hasina, Former Prime Minister of Bangladesh *1950 - John Sayles, American director and screenwriter * 1950 - Laurie Lewis, American musician *1951 - Wei Chen, Canadian journalist *1952 - Sylvia Kristel, Dutch actress *1954 - Steve Largent, American football player and U.S. Congressman * 1954 - George Lynch, American musician (Dokken) *1955 - Stéphane Dion, Canadian politician *1960 - Jennifer Rush, American pop singer *1961 - Quentin Kawananakoa, heir to the throne of the Kingdom of Hawaii *1962 - Grant Fuhr, Canadian hockey player *1964 - Claudio Borghi, Argentine football manager (Colo-Colo) * 1964 - Laura Cerón, American actress * 1964 - Janeane Garofalo, American actress and comedian *1966 - Puri Jagannadh, Indian film director *1967 - Mira Sorvino, American actress * 1967 - Moon Unit Zappa, American singer and actress *1968 - Mika Häkkinen, Finnish 2 time Formula 1 World Champion * 1968 - Naomi Watts, English-born actress *1969 - Nico Vaesen, Belgian footballer * 1969 - Mark Everett, former child actor, now fugitive * 1969 - Éric Lapointe, Canadian singer *1970 - Mike DeJean, American baseball player * 1970 - Gualter Salles, Brazilian racing driver *1971 - Alan Wright, English footballer *1972 - Dita Von Teese, American burlesque artist *1973 - Jori Hulkkonen, Finnish electronic musician * 1973 - Brian Rafalski, American ice hockey player * 1974 - Shane Webcke, retired Australian and QLD Rugby League Player and former Brisbane Bronco *1974 - Mariya Kiselyova, Russian swimmer * 1974 - Joonas Kolkka, Finnish footballer *1975 - Lenny Krayzelburg, American swimmer *1976 - Fedor Emelianenko, Russian mixed martial artist *1977 - Young Jeezy, American Rapper *1977 - Se Ri Pak, Korean golfer *1978 - Bushido, German rapper *1979 - Bam Margera, American skateboarder *1981 - José Calderón, Spanish basketball player * 1981 - Jorge Guagua, Ecuadorian footballer * 1981 - Gül Gölge, Turkish model and actress * 1981 - Iracema Trevisan, Brazilian musician (CSS) *1982 - Dustin Penner, Canadian hockey player * 1982 - Ray Emery, Canadian hockey player * 1982 - Emeka Okafor, American basketball player * 1982 - Anderson Varejão, Brazilian basketball player *1982 - Ranbir Kapoor, Indian Actor *1982 - Nolwenn Leroy, French Singer *1983 - Stefan Moore, English footballer *1984 - Ryan Zimmerman, American baseball player * 1984 - Melody Thornton, American singer and dancer *1986 - Andres Guardado, Mexican footballer *1987 - Hilary Duff, American actress, singer *1988 - Esmée Denters, Dutch singer * 1988 - Aleks Vrteski, Australian footballer *1989 - Mark Randall, English footballer *1992 - Skye McCole Bartusiak, American actress Deaths *48 BC - Pompey, Roman general and politician (b. 106 BC) * 235 - Saint Pontianus, Pope * 876 - Louis the German, King of Eastern Francia (b. 804) * 935 - Wenceslaus I (b. 907) *1104 - Pedro I, king of Aragon and Navarre (b. 1068) *1197 - Henry VI (b. 1165) *1429 - Cymburgis of Masovia, wife of Duke Ernest of Austria *1582 - George Buchanan, Scottish historian (b. 1506) *1618 - Joshua Sylvester, English poet (b. 1563) *1687 - Francis Turretin, Swiss theologian (b. 1623) *1694 - Gabriel Mouton, French scientist (b. 1618) *1702 - Robert Spencer, English statesman (b. 1640) *1742 - Jean Baptiste Massillon, French churchman (b. 1663) *1781 - William Henry Nassau de Zuylestein, British diplomat and statesman (b. 1717) *1844 - Pyotr Aleksandrovich Tolstoy, Russian general and statesman (b. 1769) *1873 - Émile Gaboriau, French writer and journalist (b. 1832) *1891 - Herman Melville, American novelist (b. 1819) *1895 - Louis Pasteur, French scientist (b. 1822) *1914 - Richard Sears, businessman (Sears) (b. 1863) *1915 - Saitou Hajime, 3rd squad leader of the Shinsengumi died under name of Goro Fujita (b. 1844) *1918 - Georg Simmel, German sociologist and philosopher (b. 1858) * 1918 - Freddie Stowers, American soldier (b. 1896) *1935 - W.K. Dickson, Scottish inventor (b. 1860) *1953 - Edwin Hubble, American astronomer (b. 1889) *1956 - William Edward Boeing, American aviation pioneer (b. 1881) *1959 - Rudolf Caracciola, German race car driver (b. 1901) *1964 - Harpo Marx, American comedian and actor (b. 1888) *1966 - André Breton, French poet (b. 1896) *1970 - John Dos Passos, American novelist (b. 1896) * 1970 - Gamal Abdel Nasser, the second President of Egypt (b. 1918) *1978 - Pope John Paul I (b. 1912) *1979 - John Herbert Chapman, Canadian physicist (b. 1921) *1981 - Rómulo Betancourt, President of Venezuela (b. 1908) *1982 - Mabel Albertson, American actress (b. 1901) *1988 - Charles Addams, American cartoonist (b. 1912) *1989 - Ferdinand Marcos, President of the Philippines (b. 1917) *1991 - Miles Davis, American jazz trumpeter (b. 1926) *1993 - Peter De Vries, American novelist (b. 1910) * 1993 - Fraser MacPherson, Canadian jazz saxophonist (b. 1928) *1994 - José Francisco Ruiz Massieu, Mexican politician (assassinated) (b. 1946) * 1994 - Harry Saltzman, American film producer (b. 1915) *2000 - Pierre Trudeau, 15th Prime Minister of Canada (b. 1919) *2002 - Patsy Mink, U.S. Congresswoman (b. 1927) * 2002 - Hartland Molson, Canadian businessman (Molson family), senator and sports executive (Montreal Canadiens) (b. 1907) *2003 - Althea Gibson, American tennis player (b. 1927) * 2003 - Elia Kazan, Greek-born American film director (b. 1909) * 2003 - George Odlum, Saint Lucian politician (b. 1934) *2004 - Geoffrey Beene, American fashion designer (b. 1924) * 2004 - Scott Muni, American disc jockey (b. 1930) *2005 - Constance Baker Motley, American judge (b. 1921) Holidays and observances * Czech Republic - Czech Statehood Day. * Taiwan - Teacher's Day. * French Republican Calendar - Carotte (Carrot) Day, seventh day in the Month of Vendémiaire. * Ask a Stupid Question Day * Feast day of the following RC Saints ** Leoba ** St. Wenceslas ** Lorenzo Ruiz ** Aaron of Auxerre * Also see September 28. External links * BBC: On This Day * * On This Day in Canada ---- Category:September